Some concerns as early voting starts

As political campaigns reach an intense end, your ability to make a choice is here.

Early voting starts Saturday, and runs through Nov. 6. It’s a convenient way for Long Islanders to make choices in races for governor, Congress, State Legislature, and more. Lines tend to be shorter. Find information about polling sites and hours at nassauvotes.com or the state’s lookup tool, voterlookup.elections.ny.gov, which offer Suffolk voters all they need to know. The county board of elections' site remains unavailable due to a recent cyberattack.

Unlike the need to go to a specific polling location on Election Day, voters can make use of any early voting site in their home county.

Many Long Islanders are also voting with absentee ballots. The deadline to request a ballot online or by mail has passed, but absentees can still be requested in person at a voter’s county board of elections, until Nov. 7. All such ballots must be returned by Nov. 8.

Many voters have requested, and perhaps already returned, their absentee ballots. Will that ballot be affected by an ongoing lawsuit from the Republican and Conservative parties challenging recent changes to that process? One law being challenged allows those concerned about contracting COVID-19 to qualify for an absentee ballot; the other relates to processing those ballots.

On Oct. 21, a state judge in Saratoga County criticized the expansion of absentees to those worried about COVID, but declined to strike down that part of the new law. But she ruled against the new canvassing procedure that allowed election officials to start processing absentee ballots before Election Day, potentially speeding up the count.

Democrats and Republicans appealed aspects of the decision and nothing is changing for now. The appellate division in Albany is scheduled on Tuesday to hear the case, which could wind up before the state's top court.

What does all this mean for absentee voters? If New York courts do affirm the ruling on the new canvassing procedures, the impact would largely be felt by county election officials, who would have to wait until after Election Day to count absentee ballots. Reverting to the old canvassing process, which allows for postelection challenges to absentee ballots, often on technical issues, could make it less likely that results in close local races would be known on election night.

Far more disruptive would be a decision tossing out the COVID excuse, via this challenge or another pending upstate. It's clear COVID is still a concern for a significant part of the population, especially the elderly, so allowing those who don't want to risk getting ill from waiting in line in a closed space to vote by absentee ballot is warranted. This temporary exception should be allowed. To threaten ballots already cast with this exception would be disenfranchising and chaotic. The appeals process should be swift in letting voters know where they stand.